Thanks for telling me your website address again..for about the third
time! I think it's great. I especially like that you have an endo in your
postings, but the only thing he (she) said that kind of took me back (when
we were considering the pump) was his analogy to riding a bike and driving
a car. That, frankly, is a pretty thought inspiring statement. Really made
me consider whether this "pumping business" would be tougher than I
thought. Fortunately we went with our hearts, and NO REGRETS!

My 10 year old son, Mike, went on the Minimed 507 last November. Although
our endocrinologist was less than enthusiastic about the thought of putting
a 10 year old on a pump (he wanted us to try multiple injections, or the
"poor man's pump", and thought we could get the same result that way), he
told us if it was what we really wanted, he would help us. That's all we
needed to hear! We had done a lot of research, and especially learned from
other parents of kid pumpers (the REAL experts!), and we felt this would
address a lot of issues we were beginning to run into with our son. Mike
hated eating snacks at school, often forgot them, and knowing he would be
going to middle school next year, knew he would have no one there to remind
him to eat. Problem solved with the pump! No snacks unless you want to eat!
We often ran into times when he would want more or less to eat than his
planned meal exchanges, and then I would be guessing at how much extra
insulin to give, or begging him to eat "just one more exchange" because he
already had his shot. Or he would be hungry when he got home from school,
but it wasn't his snack time, so I'd either have to tell him no, or he'd
have to put up with another shot. And often when he was low at bedtime,
especially if he had an active day, it could take up to 4+ exchanges to get
ahead of the low for the night...lots of food to eat so late in the day! We
all know the constant food issues! With the pump, he eats when, what, and
how much food he wants, and I find he is eating a lot less food between
meals, and is satisfied with the amount of food he eats at meals. No more
food struggles and one less control issue.

It is amazing what a difference the pump has made in our whole family's
life. We no longer have to live on a schedule, we can ALL sleep a little
later on the weekends, and as parents, we have much more peace of mind
knowing that his blood sugars are so much more predictable and stable. We
have found that using only one type of insulin (as opposed to mixing with
NPH) yields more consistent results, and our frustration level has dropped
tremendously. And at those times when his blood sugars are running high (it
does still happen!), it can be addressed aggressively and easily with the
push of a button...no extra shots or waiting until mealtime to deal with
it. It's very empowering. The huge swings that we always lived with have
virtually disappeared, the lows are less frequent, and he is recognizing
his lows earlier. And we wonder now how we ever felt that a 200 reading
"wasn't too bad"!

I often question why doctors are so reluctant to allow children to use pump
therapy. Any parent who is diligent with traditional diabetes therapy would
certainly be just as diligent with a child on pump therapy. We are still
struggling with a few circumstances (like disconnecting for sports), and
even though his overall control has improved tremendously, it is still
diabetes and we still get thrown some curves. But Mike LOVES his pump and
would never willingly go back to shots, and we have no regrets about our
decision to put a younger child on a pump. We feel like we have been given
a new lease on life, and we are living with a happier, healthier child.